Two different jobs, often confused
When founders talk to users, they’re usually doing one of two things — even when they think they’re doing both.
Problem interviews are about understanding the user’s world. What they do, what they struggle with, what they’ve tried, what matters.
Solution conversations are about testing a specific idea you have in mind. Showing a sketch, a prototype, a pitch, and learning how users react.
Both are useful. They’re also very different conversations. Mixing them — or running one when you should be running the other — is a common reason research feels productive but produces unclear answers.
Doing them deliberately, in the right order, is one of the simplest improvements you can make to how you learn.
What a problem interview is for
A problem interview exists ...
